Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.

After 20 years in storage, frescoes from a room in a Herodian palace atop the ancient Jewish fortress of Masada were restored and will be returned to their original location.

Discovered by former Israeli general and archaeologist Yigal Yadin in the 1960s, the frescoes were on display at Masada until they were put in storage to prevent further damage to them, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

After a month of art restoration work by the Italian conservator Maurizio Tagliapietra, the frescoes will be placed in their original room in the palace, which Tagliapietra also restored. He worked on the project with a team from Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority.

The frescoes show geometric figures, and proved that commanders in Herod’s army lived in the room, according to Tagliapietra. — jta